Indonesia's 46 Million Job Program

Total investment of $750 million ...'Pre-Employment Card'

Strengthening vocational training and technical education

Accelerated implementation due to COVID-19

[Asia Economy Jakarta Correspondent Choi Sujin] Indonesia is implementing the 'Pre-Employment Card Program' to create 46 million new jobs with a total investment of $752.24 million. The Pre-Employment Card Program is a measure to address the chronic issue of lack of professional skills in the Indonesian labor market. With the added impact of the COVID-19 outbreak, the program's implementation was accelerated to tackle the growing unemployment problem.

According to local media such as the Jakarta Times on the 24th (local time), Suhuyono, Indonesia's Coordinating Minister for Economic Affairs, announced that the Pre-Employment Card Program will be launched starting this week. Indonesian President Joko Widodo had already approved a presidential decree containing this plan last week. The program was originally scheduled to begin next month. However, as the economic growth rate for the first quarter of this year was only 4.7% due to the COVID-19 crisis, the schedule was moved forward and the target areas were expanded beyond the metropolitan region.

The regions where the Pre-Employment Card Program will be implemented include Manado in North Sulawesi, Bali, and the Riau Islands, which are home to Indonesia's three major tourist destinations. These areas have suffered a severe economic blow due to a sharp decline in Chinese tourists caused by COVID-19. This program is also a pledge of the second term of the Joko Widodo administration. It serves as a supplementary measure addressing criticisms that the local education system does not sufficiently supply university graduates with the skills needed in the industrial field.

Individuals participating in the vocational training program will receive 500,000 rupiah each for lodging and transportation expenses. Startups in the education sector and e-commerce platforms such as Ruangguru (an online video education platform) and Bukalapak (an online shopping platform) are participating in this program. The training content includes coding, marketing, and more, and the participating startups will facilitate employment placement after the program ends. Meanwhile, Indonesia's confirmed COVID-19 cases have surpassed 500 this week, with deaths approaching 50. The Governor of Jakarta has requested that all office workers in the region switch to remote work for two weeks starting this week. Schools will switch to online classes for about a month and enter summer vacation, effectively ending the semester. Normal classes are expected to resume in September.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.